Dean's Lecture Series Welcomes Hector de J. Ruiz February 10

HOUSTON, February 2, 2006—Hector de J. Ruiz, PhD, chairman of the Board of Directors, president, and chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. will speak at the Dean’s Lecture Series on Friday, February 10 at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University.

Ruiz’s lecture will be from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. on Friday, February 10 in the Shell Oil Foundation Auditorium, Janice and Robert McNair Hall, Rice University. He will speak on "Innovating Business Strategies to Serve the Next Billion Computing Consumers."

The World Resources Institute, a leading non-profit organization in Washington, D.C., estimates that households globally with a total annual income of less than US $2,000 (commonly known as the Bottom of the Pyramid) are typically willing to spend about five percent of their money on connectivity services. The challenge for Western companies is to understand they have a remarkable opportunity to tap into and profit from this vast market. All they need is the right business model. AMD's CEO and Chairman Hector Ruiz is a champion of taking a business approach to serving people in these markets. He will discuss precisely what these opportunities are and how western businesses can succeed in pursuing them. He will explain why the challenge businesses face in serving these markets has nothing to do with technology, but is instead rooted in the mistaken notion that digital inclusion is by definition a charitable endeavor. He will cite examples from AMD's own experiences around the world, as well as those of other companies, to show that doing business at the bottom of the pyramid is a proven pathway to profits and that treating people in this income bracket as business partners, rather than charity cases, has the added benefit of equipping them with a strong sense of dignity, in addition to crucial life-changing technology.

About Hector de J. RuizHector Ruiz is chairman of the Board of Directors, president, and chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Dr. Ruiz joined AMD in January 2000 as president and chief operating officer, and was named chief executive officer in April 2002. He was appointed chairman of the board in April 2004. Previously, Dr. Ruiz served as president of Motorola’s Semiconductor Products Sector.

In his 22-year career with the technology firm, Dr. Ruiz held a variety of executive positions in the United States and overseas. He also worked at Texas Instruments in the company’s research laboratories and manufacturing operations.

Born in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Dr. Ruiz earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. He earned his doctorate in electronics from Rice University in 1973.

Dr. Ruiz is passionate about the role of technology in education and empowering the underprivileged. At the 2004 World Economic Forum in Davos, he announced AMD’s 50x15 Initiative, a commitment to empower 50% of the world’s population with basic Internet access by the year 2015.

Dr. Ruiz currently serves on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), which provides industry-based advice and expertise to the President on issues and problems related to implementing national security and emergency preparedness communications policy.

Dr. Ruiz also serves on the Eastman Kodak Company Board of Directors, the Advisory Board for the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management (TSEM), and the Board of Directors for the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).